Separable fastener.



'H. L. BEACH & F. W. BABOOCK. SBPARABLB FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED $21119, 1912.

1, 5, Patented May 13, 1913.

amen/016 HL. 196 a 6/2 WWW FfJ KBabcocIr HENRY L. BEACH AND'FREDERIG W.BABCQGK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SEPARABLE. FASTENER.

Specification of. Letters Patent.

Patented May 13,1913.

Application filedfieptember 19, 1912. Serial No. 721,261.

United States, residingat Cleveland, in the county of 'Guyahoga and;State of Ohio, have invented" certain new and useful Improvements inseparable Fasteners; and. we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethesame.

This invention is a separable fastener, adapted. more particularly foruse in connecting'garments such as the parts of a pair of corsets; andthe object of the same is to produce an. extremely flat and serviceablefastener of this type whereof the members will not readily becomedetached but may be disconnected immediately when desired.

To this end the invention consists in the specific details ofconstruction hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shownin the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a port-ionof'a pair of corsets whose members are conneoted by this improvedfastener, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1';Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective detail of what might be called thesocket member of this improved fastener, the guard being broken away,and Fig. 4: is an enlarged perspective detail of what might be calledthe hook member thereof, inverted and'reversed' end for end the bettertoshow the construction of the hook.

The base or body portion of both members of this improved fastener is bypreference composed of thin fiat metal, herein indicated at 1, piercedwith eyes or holes 2 for the attaching threads in a manner wellunderstood and needing no further description or illustration. The metalmay be any which will serve the purpose but should by pref erence besuch or so treated that it will not rust when the garment is washed.Toward the front end the base portion of either member isreduced inwidth as at 3, leaving thefront endcarrying the fastening devices asrather narrow and the rear ends carrying the attaching threads or otherdevices as rather wide. The manner of making these base members andfastening devices thereon is not important to the present invention.

The hook member best seen in detail in Fig. 4 consists of a bill stampedwith or secured uponthe flat base 1 and of substantially triangularcross section taken on a line through the length of this member. Thethinnest portion is its outer end 4 which is flush with the outer end ofthe base 1 and forms a sharp edge, the thickest portion is its inner end5 which stands at aboutright angles to said base, and its face 6 isinclined from the heel at its inner end to the edge at its outer end asshown and is grooved longitudinally as at 7 the groove beingtransversely rounded and standing along the transverse center of thismember. The other or what might be called the socket member with whichsaid hook member engages is composed of two parts, a hook and a guard,which together compose the socket for receiving the hook alreadydescribed; The hook in this instance, best illustrated in Fig. 3, isalso substantially triangular in longitudinal section, its outer end 14being thin and coincident with the outer end of the base, its innerend'15 being flat and upright, and its face 16 oblique and inclined; butinstead of forming a longitudinal groove throughout the length of saidface, we provide a v-shaped fin 17 extending from the inner end or heel15 rearward over and secured upon the base 1 as shown, the ridge or apexof this fin rising to about the same height as the heel 15 of thetriangular bill of this hook. The guard has a flat base 1' secured overthe base 1- of this member in any suitable way, its side edges are cutaway as at 3 like the edges of the base 1, and between these cut awayedges the remaining portion 20 forms a spring tongue which overlies thehook just described and by its resiliency is normally pressed intocontact with the thicker edge thereof, so that said hook and springtongue lying upon it constitute a socket into which the hook shown inFig. 4. may be entered.

In use the members of this fastener are attached to the garment as bystitching through the eyes or perforations 2, the hook members forinstance being stitched down one side of a pair of corsets and thesocket members .down the other side as illustrated in Figs. 1

and 2. When now the corsets are put on and .the'edges drawn together,the bills of the the bills to interengage, and the groove 7 in the hookmember will pass over the fin 17 behind the heel of the bill in theother member in a manner which will be clear. Thereafter considerablestrain may be applied to the members of this separable fastener withoutdisconnecting them, because the heel ends of the bills of the two hookscome forcibly into contact with each other when said strain is applied,and the pressure of the spring tongue holds the heels engaged duringsuch pressure. The function of the groove 7 and fin 17 is to preventlateral disengagement of these two hooks one from the other, because itis obvious that when the members of this fastener are moved relativelyand laterally, it will be necessary for the rounded wall of the groove 7to travel over the sharp edge of the fin 17, which it cannot do withoutspringing the tongue of the guard upward. It will be found that in usethis separable fastener permits considerable flexibility in the relativeposition of the parts connected thereby, and this is a desirable itemwhere the fastener is applied to articles of clothing and especiallywhere such articles partake of the continuous movement of the wearer.hen it is desired to disconnect the parts of this fastener, it is onlynecessary to insert the thumb nail under the tip of the spring tongueand raise it off of the hook, and then lift the hook member so that itsbill disengages the bill of the other hook within the socket member. Inengaging the two members of this fastener, the sharp outer end 4 of thehook member may be passed into the space between the beveled face 16 ofthe other hook member and the adjacent flat face of the spring tongue,and pushed into the socket until it automatically engages the same.While we have shown the socket member of this coupling with one faceoutward, it is obvious that it could be inverted and attached to thegarment in opposite position if the hook member be similarly inverted,and therefore we do not wish to limit ourselves to the exact position inwhich the parts of this device shall be applied.

What is claimed as new is 1. In a separable fastener, the combinationwith a hook having a bill substantially triangular in end elevation andprovided with a longitudinal groove throughout the length of its faceand extending through its heel; of a second hook shaped to engage thefirst and having a fin extending to the rear from its heel and adaptedto stand in said groove when the heels of the two hooks are engaged.

2. In a separable fastener, the combination with a hook having a billsubstantially triangular in end elevation and provided with alongitudinal groove throughout the length of its face and extendingthrough its heel, said groove being curved transversely; of a secondhook shaped to engage the first and having a fin extending to the rearfrom its heel and adapted to stand in said groove when the heels of thetwo hooks are engaged, the fin having a sharp upper edge adapted to restin the bottom of said curved groove when said heels are engaged.

3. In a separable fastener, the combination with a hook having a billprovided with a longitudinal groove through its face and heel; of asecond hook shaped to engage the first and having a fin extending to therear from its heel and provided with a sharp edge adapted to rest insaid groove when said heels are engaged, and a spring guard secured tothe base of the second hook and having a tongue at its front endnormally contacting with the bill of this hook but yielding to permitthe entrance of the other hook.

4.. In a separable fastener, the combination with a hook having a billprovided with a longitudinal groove throughout the length of its faceand extending through its heel, said groove being curved transversely;of a second hook shaped to engage the first and having a fin extendingto the rear from its heel and adapted to stand in said groove when theheels of the two hooks are engaged, the fin having a sharp edge adaptedto rest in'said groove when said heels are engaged, and a spring guardsecured to the base of the second hook and having a tongue at its frontend normally contacting with the bill of this hook but yielding topermit the entrance of the other hook.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HENRY L. BEACH. FREDERIG WV. BABCOCK l/Vitnesses:

RICHARD II. LEE, G. M. GALLAGHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

